Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-06-16
eIJE's TURTLE.

BIJE'S TURTLE.
How He Captured the Creature, and How
He Got 1t Home.
Abiiah was strolling along the creek
that ran through the stump lot, few
rods back from his fathers house. He
wore as protection against dirt
blue bingham over-garment, made aft
er the fashion of mans shirt, and
reaching to his knees. He could walk
when he had it on, but if he wished to
make gigantic strides, he must needs
hold the skirt of it up.
Sometimes, as he rambled. he
jumped over stump, and sometimes
he threw sticks into the stream; and
once and finally he lay down at full
length upon an overhanging grassy
bank, where the stream was deep still,
and with his face over the edge looked
down into the water.
As he lay, wondering If a fish
wouldn't '1ook comipar' if it had ears
like hounds, and if, in such case,
it would be likely to step on its ears
and stumble, movement in the wa
ter arrested his attention, and, after
moment of wide-eyed gazing. he
reached down and pulled out into the
dry light of day huge snapping-tur-
tie.
With the same motion that drew the
turtle from the water he threw it
several feet from him out on the green
sward. and with his heart beating
faster than it's wont he rose and
watched it perform" It had fallen
upon its back, and when it had rallied
its astonished and scattered wits it
thrust out his head and its rough white
neck, and placing its head on the
ground. turned itself over.
1t seemed to Bile that the turtle
looked at him and defied him. 1t
| needed no challenge to make him
afraid of it; he was afraid already.
But he took long stick and poked it;
and it Kissed and spat like an angry
cat and snapped fiercely at the stick,
and raised itself up from the ground on
| its feet, and Kissed more and worse, he
| whispered, in his terrified heart;
"Landy! I'll keep away from Jour-
Bile was not intimately acquainted
with turtles, and 1t occurred to him.
as he was poking at this one, that for
aught he knew it might, when its
patience was gone, fly at him and
scratch his eyes out; and he thence
forth confined his operations to very
gently preventing 1t from returning to
the water.
! He had heard his grandmother tell
| of cooking q ''mortal great turkle
that his grandfather caught when the
family .'was moving in wagon out to
Indianny," and he recalled mouth
watering statements relative to the de
liciousness of the said turkle land Of
other turkles." He remembered hear
ing too that man who lived over or
the saw-min road had put turtle into
his swill barrel, where it had fattened
until it was just right to eat; and Bilt
said to himself that he would put his
turtle into the family swill barrel, ane
have it for dinner on his birthday.
| As he sat- eontentedly on stump
keeping guard he pictured to himself
his turtle grown amazingly delicious
and too large to live longer in the
swill barrel, and then far more deli
cious and too big to be comfortable in
the mill-pond; and so did his imagina-
ton run riot that he was about tt
behold it absolutely enshrouded in de-
liciousness, and as large as the sandy
lot. when he was confronted by dis
NAL problem-how to get the creature
home
1t was useless to call for his mother
for she was across the road from tn
house picking berries If he left thu
turtle and went for help. it was certain
to go back into the creek; and as far az
carrying it home by the tail. not he
not while it had head!
After mature deliveration, he made
a moose In the end of cord and APP
preached the turtle from behind and
tried to lasso its tail, intending t.
march triumphantly home with tn
beast in tow; but this was tail tina
loved liberty, and it refused to be las
seed. At last, grown desperate, he re
solved to drive two stakes into TIN
ground, about eight inches apart, ant
..shoo' the turtle toward them unit
the front of its shell was between
them, and then drive two more stick
close behind it, and go and get hi
mother and the grain shovel and
bushel basket
AS he went in search Of the first stalk
to be driven in this deep plot, h
!. noted. to his great annoyance, the az
. proach of his fathers spotted calf tn